A New Beginning
by BetterYouDieThanI
Summary: Fed up with the supernatural and devastated after the death of her mother, Caroline Forbes decides to leave Mystic Falls and heads to California – Beacon Hills, to be specific. Only thing is that she has no idea what's in store for her when she gets there.
1. Chapter 1

Her smooth, cream-colored fingers traced over the lining of a ceramic picture frame, sucking in a harsh breath, as her trembling hands grazed atop of the smile of a middle-aged blonde woman, who was clad in a dull green sheriff's uniform.

Beside her in the picture, enveloped in the older woman's arms, stood a cheerful teenager with the same distinct, fiery blue eyes and pale blonde hair as her mother, dressed in a deep red graduation gown. A young girl with a smile and eyes bright enough to shed light even on the darkest of moments. And despite the horrors of her life, the innocence that she held did not diminish.

But as her eyes — the eyes of the same pretty teenaged girl in that picture — swept over the frame in her hands, it was clear that she no longer displayed the cheerful persona or unique liveliness of that past version of herself. Instead, they were replaced with slightly slouched shoulders that held the weight of the world on top of it and the dull eyes of someone who had been through _so_ _much_.

Caroline Forbes tried hard not to allow the tears that swelled in her eyes to escape and trail down her cheeks. She tried hard not fall back into that deep, seemingly never-ending rabbit hole of grief that she had been in for the past few months. But it was hard not to give up. She always did her best to fight — to never surrender to _anything_ — but it was hard. It was hard not to give up, when your whole life was taken out from under you — when her mother, her only remaining living family, was dead.

And from cancer, of all things.

Sometimes, Caroline found it comical for someone who lived in a town infested with supernatural creatures her whole life to die of something so... _natural_. It was absurd. Her daughter was a vampire who's former boyfriend and almost boyfriend consisted of a werewolf-slash-vampire hybrid and a century old vampire. It was ludicrous that after all they had been through — a manipulative and deadly vampire doppelgänger, a megalomaniac Original hybrid and his equally terrifying and homicidal family, a two-thousand-year-old warlock and his vengeful lover, along with their whole town being blown up — how her mother could succumb to something so mundane.

And Caroline had to live with the death of her mother for the rest of her undead life — which was, unfortunately, for eternity.

The blonde-haired girl placed the picture in her purse and looked around her childhood home with a sad smile. The only sound that could be heard was her heeled boots clicking against the hardwood floors, as she slowly walked over to the fire place and placed her palm on the mantle. Caroline took in a deep breath and couldn't help but shut her eyes, being swept up in a memory.

A memory of Christmas with her family when she was seven.

She remembered when her mother found her downstairs — with flour on the tip of her nose, dusted across the apples of her cheeks, and even more sprinkled in her hair. Her tiny, chubby hands were covered in cookie dough batter — and so was the marble kitchen counter. There were miscellaneous cooking tools — some unnecessary, like a cheese grater and a pair of tongs — strewn across the kitchen floor, causing her mother to look at her with wide eyes.

But Liz Forbes just couldn't find it within herself to get angry, as she watched a guilty, yet adorable smile stretch across her daughter's flour-covered cheeks.

It was around the end of December, and Caroline had gone to the trouble of making a plethora of food for Santa to eat when he came down the chimney, causing the house to smell like cookie dough and frosting for weeks.

She smiled inwardly at the naive little girl she used to be — the one who was so innocent and completely unaware of the world around her. A naive little girl that would never have thought to believe in witches, werewolves, and vampires — or that she would become one of them.

Feeling herself overcome with another wave of grief, Caroline opened her eyes, only to look around the room and find a completely empty house, much to her dismay. She no longer saw a little girl clad in Mickey Mouse footie pajamas, bunny slippers, and adorable blonde pigtails — a little girl who's bright blue eyes sparkled with happiness and optimism, as she looked at the world before her...and at her parents.

It was faded and only a flash, but she remembered her mother sitting on the couch beside her father, watching with utter adoration at their little girl unwrapping her Christmas gifts.

Back when she was human. Back when her parents loved each other. _Back when they were all happy._

Finally, the tears that had been swelling in Caroline's eyes had begun to trail down her cheeks, as she tried to keep in the sob that was threatening to burst from her chest.

But she wouldn't allow herself to cry.

So, after she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, she dropped her arms to the side, feeling a tad bit lighter. And again, Caroline looked around the empty house and let out a sigh. And that's all the house was now: empty, void of the happy family that used to live there.

Because they all died: her mother died, her father died, _and so did she._

Caroline felt stuck.

And she was stuck.

Caroline Forbes was stuck as a seventeen-year-old girl for the rest of her immortal life. _But she refused to be stuck._ The blonde-haired vampire refused to have her feet glued to the ground and her hands bound behind her, unable to do anything but watch as her life turned to shambles.

She wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to let that _continue_ to happen.

She was going to get back her control.

So, that's why she was moving out of the house. Because, in all honestly, she felt trapped — trapped in a place that was supposed to bring her comfort, when, in reality, all it brought was misery. And all it did was remind her of everything that she lost — everything she had that was taken away from her.

Mystic Falls was toxic. Caroline only wished she could've seen it sooner.

Wrapping her arms around her midsection, she walked toward the front door and exited the house, not looking back. She slowly traveled down the concrete steps and across the driveway to her car — her ticket out of this miserable life.

And once she hopped into the driver's side, Caroline found that she couldn't suppress the urge to put on her seatbelt. It was unnecessary, given that a car crash wouldn't be fatal for her, but it made her feel normal — _human_.

Caroline looked behind her, stealing a quick glance at the boxes of her stuff in the backseat. It was just her things. Everything that was left from the house, most of which she didn't need and didn't want to see, was gone.

Because, truthfully, she couldn't handle waking up and going down the stairs to her new kitchen to brew a cup of coffee, only to unintentionally grab one of her mother's mugs from the cabinets and end up never leaving the house for the rest of the week.

The memories were painful enough to carry with her on her own; she didn't need constant reminders of the worst time of her life and the best people she ever knew that she lost during it. So, she gave the rest of the furniture and most of her mothers clothing to charity, considering they needed it more than her.

She was starting fresh.

Caroline shifted her gaze back over to the front seat, spotting her purse and her phone out of the corner of her eye. Recently, she got a new one, erasing all of her contacts and only adding the ones that she actually needed and the people she actually wanted to keep in touch with.

That was the first step to moving on from Caroline Forbes' book: removing the toxic people from your contact list. And she would be lying if she said that clicking the 'delete' button didn't fill her with relief.

Grabbing her keys from her bag, Caroline put them in the ignition and started the car, smiling as her sensitive ears picked up on the familiar purr of the engine. Of course, she would never admit it, but she secretly liked cars — no matter how hard they were to make out in.

She tapped her fingers against the dashboard, a bit nervous, knowing she was going to miss the quaint little town, even though she had already said her necessary goodbyes.

Caroline had a heartfelt hug with Matt, both of them shedding tears when she announced her departure from Mystic Falls. She also gave him her new number and compelled him, with his permission, to not give away her phone number and to call her on a burner phone. It was a precaution Caroline took, just in case any vampires found out that the blond boy had her phone number and tried to compel it out of him. The compulsion prevented him from giving it away, no matter how someone asked.

She also visited Bonnie's grave and called her late best friend's cousin, Lucy, and notified her that she was leaving.

Lucy was the only living family Bonnie had left and visa-versa.

All of Bonnie's other family, that she knew of, died. Her mother abandoned her when Bonnie was a little girl, and when she finally came back, Abby Bennett was turned into a vampire by one of the Salvatore brothers, in order to save Elena's life. And Bonnie's dad, Rudy, was never really there for her. He rarely payed attention to his only daughter, and his work became a bigger priority than Bonnie. And before he could even devote attention toward her, it was too late, seeing as he was killed by Silas, while Bonnie watched as a ghost from The Other Side. And another relative of hers, Sheila Bennett, Bonnie's grandmother who practically raised her ever since she was a toddler, died from overexertion, as a result of using too much magic. After Elena insisted for the older woman and Bonnie to open up a tomb full of vampires for Damon Salvatore, so he could get Katherine Pierce out, who never ended up being there in the first place, Sheila's heart stopped. Her body wasn't able to handle the amount of magic she used, and Bonnie lost the woman who was more than a mother to her than her actual mother that day.

And after Caroline called Lucy Bennett and told her about the death of another member of the Bennett family — _Bonnie's death_ — the two decided to meet up for coffee weekly and shared stories about the fallen Bennett witch.

It gave Caroline comfort; hanging out with the older witch made her feel like a piece of Bonnie was still with her. So, when she met up with the Lucy at the coffee shop for the last time, Caroline told the witch that she was leaving Mystic Falls. Her news caused Lucy to threaten her, saying that she better call or she would give Caroline an aneurism, no matter how far away she was. And, of course, some crying ensued between the newly found friends, along with a parting hug. The dark-haired woman also encouraged Caroline to live her undead life, which was something that the blonde never really got the chance to do, ever since she became a vampire.

Not wanting to face Lucy's wrath, Caroline grinned and promised the older witch that she would call her, when she got the chance.

Lucy smiled back and told the blonde vampire that if Bonnie ever managed to find a way back, considering how stubborn the young Bennett witch was, she would tell her right away. And the older witch couldn't prevent the sudden feeling of sadness that washed over her, realizing that if Caroline never notified her of her younger cousin's death, she would have never known that Bonnie died. And for that, she was extremely grateful for the blonde vampire. After Katherine manipulated her, the witch tended to stray away from all things with fangs, but Caroline became a real friend. And as much as it surprised her to admit it, Lucy genuinely liked Caroline — aside from the reason that she was the only one from that horrid town who had the decency to track down and notify Bonnie's only living relative of her death. And, strangely, Lucy also somewhat admired her. The blonde vampire was filled with so much light, a rarity for vampires and even humans in this world. And she would miss that light dearly.

So, other than Caroline's former boyfriend, yet still good friend and the last-standing Bennett witch, no one else knew of her leaving Mystic Falls. Not Damon, Stefan, Tyler, or even Elena.

And Caroline was glad.

Speaking of, Lucy also, being cautious and worried for the blonde vampire's safety, even took the liberty of placing a protection spell on the Forbes girl, blocking all supernatural creatures from detecting her scent. The spell was a good idea, considering it wasn't possible to know what supernatural creatures might be lurking around. And it not only protected others from detecting Caroline's scent, but also gave her the element of surprise. Since her opponent would think that she was just a weak human, no one would expect her to sprout fangs in a fight. It also made her identity oblivious to any hunters that might come her way. And the spell prevented anyone from Mystic Falls from catching her scent and finding out where she was.

Klaus could probably find her someway, though: throw in a charming smile at the first person he saw, boast about him being an original hybrid, vow to rip out the throat of anyone who didn't prove to be helpful, and threaten to kill a witches entire bloodline, if they didn't find the blonde vampire for him.

But she just hoped that he wouldn't.

Who knows? Maybe he found a new blonde to obsess over her and seduce with his charming accent.

Letting out a sigh, Caroline reversed out of the driveway and headed down the street, driving toward her new home. And she couldn't stop the smile that stretched across her face at her reflection in the rear-view mirror: her grin wide and the corner of her eyes crinkling with happiness — a feeling she hadn't had for a while.

Turning up the radio, a relieved laugh escaped her lips, as she passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign, knowing that it was going to be a long ride. But it would be well worth it.

 _Goodbye, Virginia. Hello, California._


	2. Chapter 2

Meeting the neighbors.

That was the first thing Caroline did, as soon as she unpacked her things.

She didn't want to come off as anything other than normal, so she took precautions. _And made cookies._ "Okay, Caroline. You can do this. Just ring it," she encouraged herself. "Get to know the neighbors. It's simple. You can do that, can't you?"

Normally, Caroline was never nervous about these things, but this was all new to her. She lived in Mystic Falls all of her life. She had never been out of state, much less out of town. And she was all alone now: on her own, riding solo. And if she messed this up, she'd have to move to another town, compel everyone she ever came in contact with here to forget her, and start all over again.

And she didn't want to do that.

It was strange, though. Caroline was always good with pressure. In fact, she _thrived_ under pressure. But this new town was all she had now. And she had no safety net to fall back on. It was a 'fight or flight' type of thing. And she didn't want to flight. She was tired of flighting — tired of running away from feelings and anything that got her the least bit scared. Like her mother's death, her unrequited feelings for Stefan, her weird attraction toward Klaus, and the fact that she lost her very best friend.

So, this time, she wasn't go to fight — but that didn't mean she was going to fight either. Instead, Caroline was going to control her urge to run away from everything that was out of her control, and she was going to stand still: feet on the ground, chin up high, and determined to face whatever was on the other side — which all led to her letting out a deep breath, pressing her finger on the button, and successfully ringing the doorbell to the house in front of her.

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Caroline's eyes darted across the house, following the sound of soft footsteps that were leading to the front door.

Moments later, it opened with a swing, revealing a woman who closed her eyes before she could even see the blonde girl in front of her and let out a frustrated groan. From what Caroline could see, she was a brunette, who seemed to be in her mid-thirties with warm, tan skin. Her petite frame was clad in pink scrubs, and her hair was tied up in a messy pony-tail, with tendrils of her hair sticking out and framing her pretty face.

Caroline was confused by the woman's annoyance, but kind of got the gist, when she said, "Did you seriously lock yourself out again, Scott? I swear, one of these days, I'm gonna-" The woman paused, letting out a noise of surprise, when she opened her eyes and was met with the sight of the cheerful teenaged girl on her doorstep.

Not wanting to scare her, the blonde quickly sent her a friendly smile. "I'm Caroline Forbes," the blue-eyed girl greeted. "I just moved here, and I live in the house across the street," she explained, pointing her pale, lapis lazuli ring clad finger toward the two-story, brick white house across from the woman's home. "And since I'm new to town and don't know anyone here, I decided to greet the neighbors." Caroline held up the plate of cookies in her hands, yet another cheerful smile plastered across her face.

"Wow, you are probably the nicest new neighbor that ever moved to Beacon Hills," the woman complimented. She cleared her throat awkwardly, seeming to not be very used to visitors. "My name is Melissa McCall. Um, why don't you come on in?" she offered, gesturing a hand inside the house.

The woman, Melissa, walked back into her home and headed toward the kitchen. "How about I make some tea for those cookies?" Her voice was a bit further away, but Caroline heard it with perfect clarity, along with the clanking of ceramic tableware from where she stood, which was still by the front door.

Gazing down at the threshold of the house, the blonde bit down nervously on her lower lip. Hesitantly, she hovered her foot over the doorway, inwardly smiling when she didn't feel a forcefield pushing her back and preventing her from entering the house.

Walking inside, her eyes surveyed a nice-looking living room with a couch, coffee table, television, and picture frames that hung upon the walls. On a table beside the couch, she spotted a photo of a slightly younger Melissa with a boy, one who looked to be around ten-years-old. And considering how much they looked alike, Caroline deduced that he was clearly related to Melissa — possibly her son. And most likely the Scott she thought was at the front door before.

Placing the tray of cookies in front of her, Caroline patted down on her skirt and took a seat on the couch, just as Melissa entered the living room, holding a couple cups of tea and a tea pot that she set down on the coffee table beside the dessert.

"I hope you don't mind that I used tea bags; it was the only thing that I had available," the older woman explained with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I mostly just have soda around the house for my son and coffee for me."

Caroline shook her head, dismissing the apology. "It's totally fine." Her eyes glanced back to the picture beside the couch, curious. "So, you have a son?" she questioned politely, not trying to pry too much.

A smile broke out on Melissa's face, and she seemed to get more comfortable with Caroline's presence, after that. "Yeah, I do. His name is Scott. And no matter how much I get the urge to strangle him daily, I love him with all my heart."

Caroline let out a chuckle at Melissa's answer, but she felt heart clench, hearing the woman speak so fondly of her son. Because she knew that her mother couldn't talk about her like that anymore — about her beautiful, overachiever of a daughter.

And those little moments were when she found herself missing her mother the most.

Liz Forbes was the only family member she had left. And, yes, Caroline had her friends, but it wasn't the same. Her and her mother had gotten _so_ close _,_ over the past few years. Liz Forbes finally accepting her daughter as a vampire was the closest Caroline got to her mother, ever since her father left them for another man and Liz's job became her number one priority.

And after her mother's death, there were times when it was so hard for her that Caroline even considered turning her humanity off — flipping the switch, going dark, not having a care in the world. But even when she felt at her lowest, she knew she couldn't do it. Because if there was one thing that Caroline Forbes would never do, it was giving up when times were tough.

And she wasn't going to start now — if not for her pride, then for her mother.

"Um, are you attending Beacon Hills High School?" Melissa asked her, snapping the blonde girl out of her thoughts.

Caroline's head shot up abruptly, looking up at the older woman with wide eyes and responding with a somewhat unsure, "Yes."

Really, she wasn't planning on attending high school, having already graduated and been halfway through college. But it would be strange for a girl who looked to be around seventeen-years-old to not attend high school. Plus, it would raise a lot of questions. And besides, Caroline was practically beaming at the thought of getting to wear a cheerleading uniform again.

So, after a few moments, she grinned at Melissa and answered with a more confident, "Yes, I am." It was silent for a bit, after that, but once the blonde vampire heard some shuffling near the front door, she furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "Um, aren't you going to get that?

"Get what?" Melissa questioned, confused. But as soon as she heard the doorbell ring, the dark-haired woman let out a noise of surprise. She smiled at Caroline and got up from the couch, muttering on her way out of the living room, "Wow, are you magician or something?"

"Or something," Caroline murmured into her cup of tea. Curiously, the blonde-haired girl looked behind her to see Melissa opening the door, revealing a teenager, who looked like an older version of the young boy in the picture that she saw earlier.

"Hey, mom," she heard a slightly deep male voice say. "I kind of accidentally took the keys to your car, instead of the house keys." There was a pause, then a slightly sheepish, "Oops?"

And Caroline didn't even have to see her to know that there was another annoyed expression on Melissa's face. "Oops?" the older woman repeated. "You know what? It doesn't matter, because right now, we have a guest. So, march your little butt over to the living room and go say hello, okay?"

Caroline saw her point toward where she was sitting in the living room, along with boy, who rolled his eyes and slowly trudged toward the living room. She got a better look at him now and saw that he was cute: kind eyes, a boyish smile, shaggy brown hair, and a slightly crooked jaw — which wouldn't have looked much appealing on anyone else, but strangely, it suited him.

Walking toward her, he seemed nervous, obviously not the most social person. But once he took a seat next to her on the couch and saw her friendly face, he relaxed and grinned shyly, as he said, "Scott McCall."

The blonde shifted in her spot on the couch to face him and sent him a warm smile, sticking out her hand for him to shake. "Caroline," she greeted cheerfully. "Caroline Forbes."

* * *

After meeting the neighbors (and having to explain to Scott and Melissa off the top of her head that her parents died, so she was living with her aunt, who was currently out of town for a _very_ long business trip), Caroline headed back to her newly-purchased home and got back to her current problem, which was so unbelievably major that she couldn't help but feel her skin burn with irritation.

"No, I specifically asked for a beige couch," she stressed into the cell-phone that she held against her ear. Caroline let out a frustrated groan, and it was evident that the blonde vampire was slowly beginning to grow annoyed, as she spoke to the lady from Pottery Barn, seeing as her phone was starting to bend underneath her grip. "And guess what? You gave me a mustard one. An ugly mustard couch! I mean, how hard is it to screw up an order for a beige couch? Seriously, are you people color blind? And who even _makes_ mustard-colored couches?"

To make a long story short, Caroline had already compelled herself the house that she was currently residing in and ordered all the furniture beforehand. (Because when was was Caroline Forbes _ever_ unprepared?) And now, she was sitting on the arm-chair in her living room, eyeing the couch beside her — which she could say without the slightest bit of doubt was the ugliest couch she had ever seen in her life — with distaste and resisting the very, _very_ strong urge to roll her eyes.

Hearing a loud noise from the other end of the street, her gaze wandered away from that horrible excuse for a piece of furniture and toward the window. And once she did, she couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her lips, seeing a kid hanging by his feet from the trellis of the McCall house and another boy swinging a bat at the one who was dangling from the roof. She assumed the one with the bat was Scott, but it was too dark to see anything, even with her enhanced senses.

"What the hell?" she muttered, furrowing eyebrows. "No, no, not you!" she reassured the lady on the phone. Shaking her head, Caroline let out a sigh of defeat, although not losing her fiery attitude, as she said, "Listen, I've gotta go, but I want that beige couch delivered as soon as possible. And I will give you back that monstrosity you call a piece of furniture, in exchange for the couch I originally ordered, which _doesn't_ clash with the color scheme of my living room. And if it isn't delivered within the next twenty-four hours, I'll make sure to speak to your supervisor and file a complaint. Now, have a nice day!" She then ended the call, tossing her phone to the other side of the couch with a growl.

* * *

After about five long minutes, Caroline's curiosity wasn't the least bit settled, so she got up from her chair and headed over to one of the windows by the kitchen, in order to get a better look at what was happening across the street. It seemed that the boy who was hanging from the roof had hopped down, by now, judging from what she could see through the darkness. But still curious, Caroline tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear, concentrating on her senses to hear what they were saying.

 _"I know that it's late, but you gotta hear this, okay? I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago." Whoever spoke sounded unfamiliar to Caroline's ears, but judging from the pitch of his voice, he was young. And full energy. So, she guessed that this was the 'roof-hanger'. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, dispatch called! They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon department_ — _and even State Police."_

 _"For what?" she then heard Scott ask._

 _"Two joggers found a body in the woods." Roof-hanger seemed to be weirdly excited about this. "Cool, right?_

 _But Scott didn't seem to be getting what his friend was saying, mumbling in a confused tone, "...A dead body?"_

 _"No, a body of water." There was a pause, then the other boy said (somewhat rudely), "Yes, dumbass, a dead body!"_

 _"You mean, like, murdered?" Scott sounded scared now, and Caroline couldn't help but feel bad for him._

 _"Nobody knows yet," the other boy responded. "Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties."_

 _"Hold on," Scott interrupted. "If they found a body, what are they looking for now?"_

 _"You see, that's the best part: they only found half!" Despite the circumstances, the other boy chuckled, almost manically, before calming down slightly and adding, "Oh, yeah, and we're going!"_

By now, Caroline had stopped listening, but the blonde-haired vampire was still curious. So, after grabbing her coat from the ugly couch, she began to head out the door and to whatever it was that was happening across the street.


End file.
